Reloading: Kids Next Door mission...
Operation: R.O.O.K.I.E., Chapter Seven
Rookie Obtains Opportunities - Kooky Introductory Escapades
Writing Operative: Vtbots
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An eerie chill, a blurry vision, a bit of a headache... All these are what the rookie is experiencing as he finally wakens from the sleeping spell inflicted on him just a few hours ago. He shakes the cobwebs out of his head to clear his sight. After blinking a couple times he finally discovers his surroundings. A seemingly large-but not-quite-so warehouse. He also discovers something else... he is tied up in a chair, next to some random warehouse objects such as crates.
"Whoa... where am I? I don't usually sleep when I'm tied up."
He struggles to free himself but to no avail. He pauses when he remembers what happened earlier. He and Charlene were talking, then her siblings came into the room... and Charlene sprayed the sleeping stuff on him.
"After all that, she still had me captured. Why?" he wonders. Before he could do some hard thinking on that, he suddenly hears footsteps, gradually coming closer. "Guys? Is that you? Help me out of this!"
"Sorry, Kid Next Door. But I got no plans to do so."
"Oh, it's just you," Kenny mumbles as the blonde boy Delightful Child steps toward him, wearing a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Yes, it's 'just me.' Who were you expecting?"
"Well, I was hoping for Charlene..." Kenny replies quietly.
"She has been real quiet of late. Besides, interrogation isn't her strong suit. And, as you might guess, we have some questions for you."
"Yeah?"
"Such as what were you doing breaking into our home again. What were your mission objectives. Is Numbuh One really the big dorko jerk we all think he is. That kind of thing."
"I didn't have a 'mission' this time. I came on my own free will."
"Free will? No mission at all?" Brandon says curiously.
Kenny nods.
"Dangit, what a letdown!" the other boy curses. "I was all set to interrogate you, too! I even had this great idea I saw on TV where you take the nipples and give them a really hard twist... Now I can't do it!"
The rookie looks at him oddly.
"Ah well..." sighs Brandon, "we can still ransom you. I'll make Nigel do something really embarrassing, like... like... polish his own head! Yeah! Hee hee hee..."
And with that he walks off, muttering to himself the whole way. Kenny hangs his head down and sighs.
"This stinks. Here I am, stuck in this darn warehouse and I don't even know where Charlene is!"
Then, as if on cue, Charlene comes into view filing her nails. Apparently she wants to look good in the coming fight.
"I probably shouldn't file them too much," she mumbles, unaware of another presence. "The others might expect me to scratch at someone... (sigh)"
"Don't worry about it, they're fine the way they are..."
"Huh!?" Charlene nearly jumps up as she looks around. "OH! That's where they hid you!"
As Charlene walks up to him he suddenly becomes interested with the floor looking downcast. Charlene, knowing quite well why he's down, shakes her head and leans on a large crate, hands cupped behind her and not looking at the poor, sad rookie beside her. Neither says a word for quite a few minutes. Then, finally, Kenny faces her and lets out his inquiries:
"Why, Charlene? You got me captured back there! What'd you do that for??"
Charlene turns to him and exclaims, "Well, what was I supposed to do!?"
"Gee, I don't know. Talk them into not capturing me?"
"Kenny, I told you before, we Delightful Children and those Kids Next Door are enemies, and as long as we have total opposite causes and beliefs we probably always will be enemies. You may not be an official Kid Next Door but you're still associated with them. And you still trespassed in my own home; your enemies' home. So, in a way, you asked for it."
The boy closes his mouth tightly and does not say another word. 'She's right,' he gripes mentally, 'she's didn't get me captured. I did. I should've escaped while I had the chance... Now look at what I've gotten myself into...'
"Besides," Charlene continues, "if I didn't do it my siblings would become suspicious towards me, and I wouldn't know how to explain it to them without making it seem like I'm betraying. I wouldn't want that kind of trouble. Even if you have been nice to me..."
Kenny stays silent and turns his head away from her, not from feeling anger towards her; he isn't mad at her at all. No, he is feeling the feeling of shame, failure; a feeling that he does not deserve the pretty eyes of Charlene casting on his face.
Charlene stares at him for a moment, then sighs. "I'm sorry, Kenny, but that's just how it is..."
At that moment, Naomi walks into the scene, arms folded and glaring menacingly at the rookie agent. "Sister, the Kids Next Door have arrived. Time to get ready for our little special surprise for them."
"All right," Charlene responds as she walks away. As she does so she turns her head to Kenny, who still looks like he's mentally torturing himself. She sighs as she turns her head away from the poor sight.
When Charlene is away Naomi storms to the boy until they're face to face with each other. Kenny gulps nervously and wonders what she wants. Then, with a "Humph!", Naomi raises her open hand and swiftly swipes across his cheek. A near-earth-shattering *SLAP* and a pitiful "Owwww!" follow immediately afterwards. Naomi, adjusting her glasses, takes a deep breath and narrows her eyes deeper.
"Ooo! Always wanted to do that... you rude, uncultured, bad-mannered," she says five or so more technical synonym words, "and just plain rude BOY!"
She lets her hand down and whirls away from him, sticking her nose up in the air with another "Humph!" before walking away prissy-like.
Kenny, a tear of pain sliding down his reddened cheek, looks back up and shakes his head. "I'd probably feel a little more insulted if I knew what half of those words mean."
* * * * *
"Okay, team, we're here!" the British-accented boy announces as they arrive in front of the Delightfuls' large warehouse. "Remember, our priority is to rescue Kenny from the clutches of our enemies, The Delightful Children From Down The Lane. We are on their turf so we would most likely be at a disadvantage. A head-on confrontation would probably not be a good idea."
But despite that prospect the KND ready their 2x4 Technology weaponry and steadily enter the premises.
When they see that it's all clear so far, Numbuh One whispers, "All right, here's the plan. One of us will sneak around and find Kenny and free him. The rest of us will try to buy that person some time by distracting the Delightful Children, if they are near where Kenny is being held up. That person would have to be sneaky... stealthy... and silent...tee... Yeah. Hey, Numbuh Five--"
"Already on it!" And with that she sneaks away and disappears into the shadows.
"Right. Well, the rest of you, let's keep moving."
And keep moving they do. And they continue to wander around until they find themselves in an open space. That's when five familiar and annoying voices is heard through their little ears.
"Welcome, Kids Next Door."
The Delightful quintet emerge from the shadows, all mysteriously wearing navy blue robes with hoods that covers their entire bodies. The Kids Next Door quartet can barely see their faces hidden under their hoods. Though Naomi has her eyes covered, and Jason has his hood down enough that they cannot see his face at all.
They then blink in wonder. "Where is Abigail?"
"Numbuh Five?" Numbuh Two stutters nervously. "She had to... uh... step out for a minute." He turns to Numbuh One. "Right?"
"Er... right," Numbuh One says in an equal manner.
The Delightfuls simply shrug.
"Okay, dorks, we're here," says the KND leader in his normal voice. "Now let's talk about getting back our operative."
"We want our friend back, y'meanies!" frowns the Asian girl.
"Yeah!" the Aussie boy joins in. "What makes you think you c'n just come an' do this?"
"What makes you think Kenny can just trespass in our home and barge into my sister's bedroom?" Brandon retorts.
"Wow..." mutters an impressed Numbuh Two. "Kenny's gutsier than I thought..."
"Kenny tells me you didn't send him," Brandon continues. "If that's so, then would you know why he dared to intrude in our home again?"
The Kids Next Door look to each other, wondering how to respond. "Uhhhhhh..." is all they say.
"Ah, no matter," says the blonde Delightful boy with a little smile. "Nigel, step forward."
He does so.
"If you want that 'rookie' back so much then you will have to do as I say."
"What?"
"Oh, it's real simple. Here, catch!"
He tosses to him a small black bottle. Nigel catches it and inspects it curiously. "Black polish? What, you want me to shine my shades?"
"No, Nigel Uno." Brandon grins mischieviously. "I want you to polish that bald head of yours!"
* * * * *
Unseen by the Kids Next Door, Kenny watches the scene unfold dejectedly. He should be glad that they have come to his rescue, but fear clouds him. How will they react to his recent actions? Would they boot him out? Would they even stay friends?
It is there that he finally notices -- One member of the team is missing. He wonders where she could be.
"Psst... Kenny... can ya hear Numbuh Five?"
Kenny looks around for the source of the whisper. "Numbuh Five? Where are you?"
"Quiet!" says the hushed voice of the dark girl. "Geez, didn't Numbuh Five teach you nothin' 'bout stealth? I'm right behind ya. I can't come out yet or I'll be spotted."
"Okay... But it should be, 'Didn't Numbuh Five teach you anything about stealth.' The way you say it makes it seem like you didn't teach me anything."
"Don't get all grammatical on Numbuh Five now. I may decide not t'untie ya when the fun starts."
As Kenny sits there silently he hears and feels movement on the ropes tied around his hands. "Don't rush, though. I'm in no hurry to see the others," he says sadly.
" 'Cause 'a 'da whole 'goin' to see yer girlfriend against orders and gettin' yerself captured' thing?"
"Uh-huh..."
"Well, I'd like t'say we all make mistakes. But, honestly, this's kinda a biggie. I don't think even Numbuh Four's goofed something up this bad. But even so, Numbuh Five don't think you'll be in too much trouble. Numbuh One'll prolly sympathize."
"I hope so....."
"Look, whatever happens, happens. Right now let's just concentrate on gettin' you out of here so whatever'll happen CAN happen."
* * * * *
"You want me to WHAT!?!" Numbuh One shouts incredulously, ignoring the snickers from his friends.
"You heard me, shine your head a nice, black shine!" repeats Brandon, his grin visible even under the hood. "A shine so shiny I could see my reflection on it! Go on, do it! It will go nicely with your shades."
"No way! Forget it!" He tosses the black polish back to the original owner.
"Well then, I guess you do not want that rookie of yours safely returned to you. Oh well, no matter. Siblings, we wasted enough time; let's get 'em!"
"Uh, wait a minute!" Numbuh One holds out his hand. "Um, why don't we talk for a little bit?"
"About what?" queries the impatient Delightfuls.
"About... mmm... us."
Numbuh Four turns to Numbuhs Two and Three curiously. "What's he doin'?" he whispers.
"Buying Numbuh Five some time," Two answers.
* * * * *
Kenny and Numbuh Five, still undoing Kenny's constraints, listen to the conversation curiously.
"This could get interestin'," the girl comments.
"Yeah."
* * * * *
"You want to talk about 'us'?"
"Yeah. Like... Why do you obey adults? Why do you continously fight us? Don't you know we're fighting for kids? Like you?"
The Delightful Children simply sneer. "Must you do it in such an anarchistic, chaotic way? Children are meant to behave. They are meant to obey and respect their elders. You Kids Next Door do not do that, and are always causing trouble. So it is up to us Delightful Children to keep you brats in line."
"Hey, we don't fight ALL adults, just the bad ones!" Numbuh Two defends. "You know, the ones out to make lives miserable for us kids?"
"They do not mess with us, we are good children! The reason they are messing with you is because of your disrespect and your misbehavior."
"Wrong!" Numbuh Four counters. "Those evil adults we fight make the lives of ALL kids a living nightmare. You remember that Mr. Fizz guy? Yeah, I'm sure you do 'cuz he was the one who once raised the soda-drinking age to 13! If it wasn't for us you wouldn't be enjoyin' yerselves a good soft drink anymore! Am I right?"
"Errr... well..." they stutter.
But Numbuh Two joins into the attack. "And what about Wink and Fibb? Yeah, see, I think you remember the time they made adult swim so long that kids never have a chance into the pool. If we hadn't stopped them you wouldn't get a swim there ever again, now would you?"
The Delightfuls are visibly shaken as they continue to mumble incoherent words.
"Um..." Numbuh Three digs the floor with the sole of her shoe. "I don't have much to say 'cause they took all the good stuff already... 'Cept maybe that part when we were trapped in that kid zoo. Yeah, that's a good one. 'Cause if we decided not to work together we'd all prob'ly still be in there. Right?"
The five blue-eyed individuals become interested with the floor, unable to counter her words.
"You're always too busy mindlessly worshipping all adults," Numbuh One continues, his tone dead serious, "kissing their butts, unaware of the bad things the many evil ones are doing or plan on doing."
Then he unleashes the most devastating attack of all: "A prime example being your own father, who wouldn't hesitate to murder his own children!"
"ENOUGH!!" the Delightfuls snap with a force so strong the four Kids take several steps back.
Brandon steps forward and exclaims, "We are quite aware what he was planning to do. Manasa informed us so; we stopped our attack on her when we heard the news."
"That means she is okay..." One whispers to his team, relieved.
"And as for... him... Well, I can't say he was such a good guy, either. In fact -- and I'm being brutually honest here -- we couldn't care less for his departure."
"What?" the quartet of Kids gasp. Even Numbuh Five and Kenny nearly made themselves heard with their surprised interjections.
"Yes," Naomi speaks, fiddling with her glasses. "Those horrible deeds Manasa said he was attempting to do -- the massacre of all 'bad' children -- ... Not even we would go that far. He was insane."
"Insane, yes, he was definitely not all there," agrees the tall boy Nathan. "And that man was terrible as a father. He has done some things we do not wish to speak to you about."
"Not to mention he never said a word about our mother," says the sandy-blonde girl Charlene somberly. "We are unsure of her location... or whether she is still alive."
"And so many other stuff," continues Jason, his face still hidden under the hood. "Some father he was."
Brandon sighs. "We hated the things he had done to us, and was going to do to us," he laments. "We hated the things he would not do for us. We just... hated that guy. But... we blindly followed his orders... because we were supposed to be 'good' little children. I guess all that fury and hatred towards him were contained within us. It was only until after his death, and after we discovered the truth about him, that we were finally able to let it all out. We never wanted to see that monster or anything associated with him ever again. So we... got rid of his miserable body and all his little belongings."
"So that s'plosion I saw at your home..." Numbuh Three begins.
"... was us wiping him and his blasted room completely out of existence for good. Now it's only us; WE'RE running the show for now on. Just us Delightful Children. We continue to rejoice over our newfound freedom and individuality. We have absolutely no regrets for the destruction of our father."
The quartet of the Kids Next Door stare in stunned silence. Never before had they ever seen the Delightful Children so emotional. In fact, it is only on a few occasions they showed emotion, period. The Kids do not even bother checking to see if the Delightfuls were making this up, either; the look of their cold, blue eyes inform tell them their words were 100 percent seriousness.
The Kids knew their enemies' father was evil... But so evil he done unmentionable evils to them in the past? The KND begin to wonder if anyone even cared for them before. For the first time ever, the Kids Next Door truly feel sorry for the Delightful Children From Down The Lane.
* * * * *
Back at Kenny Rangsey's location, Kenny, his hands freed, rubs his sore wrists as he watches the scene nearby wonderously.
"Does this happen often?" he whispers to the stealth girl behind him.
"Nope," she replies, her tongue sticking out a little at one side of her mouth as she works on the ropes tied around her friend's legs. "We usually don't talk to each other for this long. We usually go straight to the fight. And man, Numbuh Five never seen them Delightfuls like that before."
"Looks like they're becoming what their dad would never let them be: Themselves."
"You could be right on that. It sometimes makes me wonder if they are really as bad as we thought them to be."
* * * * *
"I see," Numbuh One says, finally breaking the awkward silence. "So you obviously no longer want anything to do with him. Then, tell me this. Why are you still obeying his orders in trying to beat us?"
The Delightful Children stare at him quizzically.
Then Numbuh Three steps into the middle and exclaims, "Yeah, that's right! Why are we even fighting? C'mon, let's stop it. I mean... hey... Why don't you join us!?"
Delightful Children: "Huh!?"
The Other Three KND: "What!?
Five and Kenny (hushed tones): "Eh??"
"Yeah! C'mon, your mean ol' dad is gone now, right? You don't hafta do what he says anymore. We don't hafta fight anymore! You can be Kids Next Door, like us! Yeah, we can beat those bad guys together! And we can be friends... Won't that be great? Huh, huh, won't it?"
The Delightfuls blink many times, almost shocked at her offer. Even the other KND display expressions of surprise. The Delightful Children and the Kids Next Door, working together on a permanent basis? Sure, they worked together before in that kid zoo fiasco... But the Delightfuls nearly got them captured again by the zoo keeper after they were all freed. Trust would become an issue indeed. But now the KND wonder... Could it still be possible? Could they possibly work together and not end up being betrayed?
Their contemplation is interrupted when the Delightful Children answer in a low voice, "We cannot. Not while we are the Delightful Children."
"Then be Kids Next Door!" Three exclaims exasperatedly, throwing her oversleeved hands up in the air.
"You do not understand, Kuki. Even without... him... we are still the Delightful Children From Down The Lane. The opposites of you Kids Next Door."
Brandon steps forward again. "Of course, the bit about you disobeying adults and us obeying adults, is only part of the reason for our constant physical exchange. No, I'm afraid it's a bit more personal than that now." He smiles and looks directly at the leader of the team. "We Delightful Children are better than you. And you know it."
* * * * *
"Done." Numbuh Five frees the constraints on Kenny's legs. He nearly jumps up for freedom but Five settles him down in time. "Don't celebrate yet. We still gotta get out of here safely. And that would probably mean going through them Delightful chumps."
"Oh. Well, you better go on, then. I'll stay out of the way."
"What? It would be your second major fight. Don't you wanna join us in beating them down?"
"After what I did today, I don't feel like it... I don't even think I deserve to fight alongside you guys."
"Oh, c'mon Kenny..."
He simply turns his head away with his eyes closed. "I just can't, Numbuh Five. Besides... One of them is Charlene, and I choked when I had my weapon pointed at her. What if it happens again? Who knows what would happen to me... or you... or the others. I'm sorry, but... I think I should skip this battle."
Five sighs. "Well, okay then. You'll be fine over here by yourself?"
Kenny nods.
"All righty. But we get outta here when we get the chance."
She stands, stretching her body and cracking her knuckles for preparedness and from that work she did. As she starts to leave, she looks at her rookie friend again over her shoulder.
"And one more thing. Stop beating yourself up so much over a couple mistakes you made. I'm sure you'll find someway to get back on your feet. I want to see your hyper, excitable self again. So stop destroying yourself, man. ... Rememeber what I said, got it?"
With that she walks away. Kenny watches her as he continues to sit on the chair, his friend's words floating in his mind...
* * * * *
"Better than us?" Numbuh One scoffs. "Ha! Don't make me laugh."
"If anyone should be laughing it's us, considering we got all the toys from that store and you didn't."
"Even so, you're going to have to do a lot better than that to prove your little boasting."
"Oh, we will, we will. In fact, we are going to prove it right at this very moment."
"Hey, don't let me miss out on the fun!"
The kids turn their heads as Numbuh Five skillfully makes acrobatic jumps from the crates and lands beside her team.
"Ah, Abigail, you have returned," the Delightful Children chorus in their monotone. "Finally freed that Kid Next Door trainee, huh?"
She blinks confusedly. "How did you--"
"Well, what else could you be doing? Powdering your nose?"
Five simply crosses her arms and "hmph"s.
"But that is fine. Keeping Kenny Rangsey prisoner was not of any importance anyway. As you probably already guessed, we lured you here so we can fight. But it is going to be a little different this time. You are going to fight... us!"
"Oh yeah, that's definitely different," Four snorts with obvious sarcasm.
"But it is, Wallace," the Delightfuls smirk from under the hoods of their robes. "No monsters, no robots! And you will not battle us in a huge machine. No, no! Instead, you will battle... the Delightful Children! Yes, for the first time ever, we will fight each other in a hand-to-hand, five-on-five, anything goes combat!"
The Kids Next Door show not a single hint of fear, though. Instead, they snicker. Even Numbuh Three.
"So let me get this straight," Numbuh Two says, trying to contain hysterical laughter. "You are going to... fight us!?"
"Aw man, you gotta be kidding!" snickers Numbuh Four. "I haven't even seen any of y'all walking around on yer own. You're gonna have a hard time beatin' us when we're pounding on all of ya at once!"
Numbuh One, too, finds amusement in this, but tries his hardest to look serious. "Yes, not to mention you have no real battle experience. You relied so much on robots and other villians that I do not think I have ever seen you fight on your own before. It doesn't help that you are unarmed as well..."
The Delightful Childen, however, are unfazed by their enemies' laughter. Instead, they smile. "Think so?"
With that they throw off their robes... And the Kids Next Door's snickers die down. Very quickly.
Over their usual attire, the Delightful Children are wearing serious navy-blue power armor, with accessories that look like they could hurt much. Naomi's glasses are replaced by glowing neon spectacles. Jason's football helmet is instead a strong metallic helmet of some weird kind, which still obscures everything but his eyes. Charlene's pink bow is replaced with a mechanical pink bow with one glowing red orb at each end. Nathan is wearing mechanical gloves that matches quite well with his suit, and the palms appear to be glowing a threatening blue. And Brandon's suit has mechanical wings behind it.
The Kids Next Door gawk as they stare into their enemies' arsenal, then down at their own puny weapons that look like spitball shooters compared to the Delightfuls'. They take a step back as the Delightful Children begin to advance, all with delightful smiles on their faces.
A frantic Numbuh Four can only utter what his friends definitely will agree on. "This is not gonna be easy..."
* * * * *
TO BE CONTINUED....